Sky Drama Launches With Top Premieres

HBO successor Sky Drama launches today with a primetime line-up anchored by the 7.30 season premiere of Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch, which has smashed ratings in the US.

Just like Sky used Game of Thrones to build its original premium drama channel SoHo, so, too, is it relying on the Texas-sized Taylor Sheridan hit to draw viewers ahead of HBO’s shutdown on June 15.

The channel is exiting the platform because Sky has parted ways with HBO Max, which launches its own direct-to-consumer streaming service on June 16.

To mitigate the loss of so much HBO content, Sky has expanded its deals with Paramount Global and Sony Television among others to create a channel it believes has far broader appeal than HBO.

The first night’s schedule is indicative of this, with the season one premiere of spy drama The Agency following Dutton Ranch at 7.35.

It leads into the S1 bow of Silicon Valley drama The Audacity, which is followed at 10.40 by the latest in The Terror franchise, Devil in Silver.

These are Sky Drama’s flagship shows and are being grouped on opening night to showcase the channel at its best. Hereafter, they will air across the week.

Unlike the HBO channel, Sky Drama is curated in-house by Sky, which should make for a more satisfying viewing experience than an anonymously piped-in smorgasbord that devalued HBO and Comedy Central (which has been replaced by the in-house Sky Comedy).

Friday night has NZ thriller The Ridge, miniseries Little Fires Everywhere, and UK thrillers Sweetpea and The Fall, of which have had previous runs.

Saturday is wall-to-wall Lost while Sunday triple-bills costume dramas Versailles, Harlots and The Tudors.

Monday’s premieres includes Dick (Law & Order) Wolf’s latest CBS drama CIA and Showtime’s 2023 eco-community satire from The Rehearsal’s Nathan Fielder, The Curse.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood anchors Tuesday nights ahead of S1 of SisterS and Heated Rivalry while new on Wednesday is the outstanding Canadian serial killer thriller, Cardinal.

Yellowstone is being stripped 7.00 weeknights and daytime offers the chance to rediscover vintage TV dramas of the last 20 years, including Billions, The Americans, Mad Men and Killing Eve.

Other highlights in June include the BBC’s 2017 Little Women adaptation, Italian gangster dramas Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero, and Euro noirs Wisting, Pagan Peak and Midnight Sun.

Hardcore drama fans will already have seen most of these series but if you don’t subscribe to streaming services or are late to the peak TV party, Sky Drama delivers a lively and diverse mix of the genre.